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Memories of Madison Memories of Madison A Connected Community 1857-2007 by John Patrick Rankin emories o f Madison was prepared to support the Sesquicentennial Celebration for the City of Madison. It presents some of the knowledge Mand old photographs acquired by the author from more than a decade of research into families who settled the area and built, then sustained, the town. When James Clemens offered town lots for sale beside the Memphis & Charles­ ton Railroad depot in 1857, he had no way of foreseeing the prominence of those who would come to live there. Nor could he have anticipated the influences that citizens of the future town of Madison would have in state, national, and international politics through the years. Mr. Clemens passed away in June 1860 after selling only fifteen of the original fifty-five lots and without ever residing in the new town himself. However, Clemens did set the tone for social harmony and unity in his town by selling some of his lots to women (before suffrage and property rights were com­ mon) and even one lot on the primary residential street to a “free man of color” before the Civil War. This book reveals the sense of community that grew in the village, where various families became interconnected by marriages as well as business relationships. It also provides insights into the many connections of Madison families to notable early American families. The book concludes with selected anecdotes and tidbits relating to the citizenry of Madison and its pioneer days. Madison was founded as a railroad town, developed along the route of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad when it was built through northern Alabama in the mid-1850s. By that time, there were already many people living around the future town site, but the State of Alabama retained title to the location until 1854, when the property was sold to Huntsville resident James Clemens, father of U.S. Sen. Jeremiah Cle­ mens. Therefore, before James Clemens subdivided the land and sold lots, nobody was legally living within the square mile that became the core of the town. The story of Madison today is illustrated with color photographs of homes in the historic district, as well as of selected scenes that show some of the progress and unique ambiance of the town. The Madison story is entrenched in the context of socioeconomic conditions at the time of settlement, as influenced by nationally and internationally prominent relationships of the Madison pioneers. The closely interwoven families of the town through the last 150 years have together experienced triumphs and trag­ edies, and this book relates many of those stories through glimpses into the life records of the pioneers. More than comprising a historical book, these stories and photographs show the accomplishments of determined people who suc­ ceeded through pursuit of excellence in education and spirit of community tied to influential figures on a state and national level to make Madison today one of the most significant small cities in the South. Mayor Author S. “Sandy” Kirkendall and the Madison City Council Cynthia McCollum D istrict 1 Steve Haraway D istrict 2 Jerry Jennings D istrict 3 Tim Cowles D istrict 4 Tommy Overcash D istrict 5 Larry Vannoy D istrict 6 Bob Wagner D istrict 7 are pleased to make possible this special edition history o f the City o f Madison, Alabama, in honor o f our Sesquicentennial Celebration. Memories o f Madison A Connected Community 1857-2007 by John Patrick Rankin THE D o n n i n g C o m p a n y PUBLISHERS This book is dedicated to the life impacts of pioneers who lived, worked, and did business within the town and its surroundings during the last 150 years. It is particularly dedicated to Percy Brooks Keel and Gladys McFarlen True, whose efforts to discover and preserve the history of Madison and associated old photographs have directly enabled development of the book. Copyright © 2007 by John Patrick Rankin All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work in any form whatsoever without permission in writing from the publishers, except for brief passages in connection with a review. For information, write: The Donning Company Publishers 184 Business Park Drive, Suite 206 Virginia Beach, VA 23462-6533 Steve Mull, General Manager Barbara Buchanan, Office Manager Kathleen Sheridan, Senior Editor Stephanie Danko, Graphic Designer Scott Rule, Director of Marketing Tonya Hannink, Marketing Coordinator Cindy Smith, Project Research Coordinator Neil Hendricks, Project Director Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rankin, John P Memories of Madison : a connected community, 1857-2007 /by John P Rankin. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN-13: 978-1-57864-398-1 ISBN-10: 1-57864-398-8 1. Madison (Ala.)— History. 2. Madison (Ala.)— History— Miscellanea. 3. Madison (Ala.)— Biography. 4. Historic buildings— Alabama— Madison. 5. Madison (Ala.)— Buildings, structures, etc. I. Title. F334.M18R36 2006 976.1’97— dc22 2006033200 Printed in the United States of America by Walsworth Publishing Company Contents 6 F oreword 7 Preface 8 A c k n o w l edgments 9 P r o l ogue C H A P T E R I 10 In the Beginning... C H A P T E R 2 20 Founder of Madison: James Clemens C H A P T E R 3 30 Historic Homes & their Owners 80 Scenes o f Madison C H A P T E R 4 98 True Tales of TidBits 138 Epilogue 139 Index 144 About the Author Foreword he historic district in the City of Madison received an important recognition in March 2006. The entire district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. This was the culmination of two T years of work and recognizes the importance of the structures located there. I say two years based on the work I did, but in fact it was based on 150 years of work by the citizens of what we now call Madison. As important as it is to preserve our past in the form of buildings and houses, it is equally important to preserve the lives of the people who inhabited those structures. Never before have the pioneers of our town been so remembered. They are lucky that someone took the enormous amount of time, effort, expertise, and yes, love, required to do it. We stand on the shoulders of those who have come before. We owe it to them to tell their stories before they are lost to the mists of time. John Rankin has done Ju st that. Jeanne Steadman. President. Madison Station Historical Preservation Society Preface emories of Madison was prepared as part of the Sesquicentennial Cel­ ebration for the City of Madison. It presents some of the knowledge gained by the author from more than a decade of research into fami­ Mlies who settled the area and built, then sustained, the town. The book represents an excerpt of and a companion media to the CD-ROM series of the Madison Memories Collection published by the Madison Station Historical Preservation Society, which provided much of the material herein. A c nowledgements he generous assistance provided by Jeanne Steadman and Cindi Sander­ son in the preparation of this work is gratefully appreciated. Likewise, thanks are due to the many people who have helped the author to glean T Madison historical information during the last decade. Outstanding among those are Ranee Pruitt, Archivist of the Huntsville—Madison County Public Library, and Rhonda Larkin, Archivist of the Probate Court’s Madison County Records Center. Numerous descendants of the families described herein also have generously shared their photos and information with the author, and this work could not have been completed with­ out them. Mary Humphrey Crownover Gilbert was among the most prolific suppliers of information about early Madison families, and her help and contacts have been invaluable, as have been the historical contributions from Percy Keel and Julius Walter Camper and his kin. O f course, the tolerance and patience of my wife, M il­ dred Rankin, is also greatly appreciated for her understanding and support during the time required for research and writing in devel­ opment of this book. Lastly, photographs in this book are normally those made by the author from street scenes, Historical Society Jeanne Steadman and holdings, or research data as referenced in the captions. Whenever a photo was Cindi Sanderson from other sources or known to have been made by another, it is so noted either in the caption or on the photograph. Percy Keel Mary Humphrey Gilbert Rhonda Larkin Mildred M. Rankin Ranee Pruitt Prologue hen James Clemens offered town lots for sale beside the Memphis & Charleston Railroad depot in 1857, he had no way of foreseeing the prominence of those who would come to live there. Nor could he have anticipated the influences that citizens of the future town of Madison would have in state, national, and international politics through the years. WUnfortunately, Mr. Clemens passed away in June 1860 after selling fifteen of the original fifty-five lots and without ever residing in the new town himself. However, Clemens did set the tone for social harmony and unity in his town by selling some of his lots to women (before suffrage) and even one lot on the primary residential street to a “free man of color” betore the Civil War. This book reveals the sense of community that grew in the village, where various families became interconnected by marriages and business relationships. The book tells stories of the early families and their descendants (in some cases, to present days) in association with the houses where they lived in the historic district and in the immediately surrounding areas.
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